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8 of the smallest animals of their kind

When tiny stands tall

Ask anyone to name the smallest animals on Earth, and most will point to insects and single-celled organisms such as amoebas. But today we're turning our attention to the obscure animals that don't require a microscope — the animals on the next level of the small spectrum that are some of the smallest of their kind.

Take for example the Barbados threadsnake, or Leptotyphlops carlae, a creature that lives in Barbados. "The species — which is as thin as a spaghetti noodle and small enough to rest comfortably on a U.S. quarter — was discovered by Blair Hedges, an evolutionary biologist at Penn State," according to Science Daily. (Text: Katherine Butler)

When tiny stands tall

Ask anyone to name the smallest animals on Earth, and most will point to insects and single-celled organisms such as amoebas. But today we're turning our attention to the obscure animals that don't require a microscope — the animals on the next level of the small spectrum that are some of the smallest of their kind.

Take for example the Barbados threadsnake, or Leptotyphlops carlae, a creature that lives in Barbados. "The species — which is as thin as a spaghetti noodle and small enough to rest comfortably on a U.S. quarter — was discovered by Blair Hedges, an evolutionary biologist at Penn State," according to Science Daily. (Text: Katherine Butler)